


Better Run Through The Jungle

by a_F100_Super_Sabre



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: 1960s, 1970s, AU, Abuse, Action/Adventure, Agent Orange (its a warning on its own), Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Historical, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Chemical Weapons, Comrades in Arms, Drugs, F/M, Family, Friendship, Graphic descriptions of violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, No Godly Background, No Gods, Once I come up with more, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Disability, Semi OOC, Trauma, Vietnam War, Violence, War, Weapons, comradeship, slurs (minor)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:33:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29823603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_F100_Super_Sabre/pseuds/a_F100_Super_Sabre
Summary: In the 1960s, after a ruthless boot camp training, Able Squad of Fourth Company, 2nd Brigade 1st Infantry Division are led by Sergeant Percy Jackson, as they deal with the Vietnam War’s pure horrors, and the dread of maybe never coming back home. Vietnam War OoC AU.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Juniper/Grover Underwood, Katie Gardner/Travis Stoll, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Three Shots were Fired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Vietnam was always, in a single moment, dreadful, funny, nightmarish, ecstatic. In its moments of highest drama, it was always its own best and worst parody.” - PHILIP D. BEIDLER
> 
> All rights go to Rick Riordan.

* * *

  
A pre-word

Hello!  
This fanfiction has been rated Explicit for a reason.

This fanfiction has graphic depictions of violence and death (it is a Vietnam War AU, and it is gruesome…) Major character deaths, abuse, slurs(nothing major, really), alcohol and drugs. It is a Vietnam War AU, and I intend to accurately write it.

I would recommend you to watch Full Metal Jacket and/or Platoon (both amazing movies) to get a better understanding of the Vietnam War, however it is not necessary to read this fanfiction.

This work condemns all sorts of violence, racism and most importantly, war itself. It is a piece of work to show you how horrible things were, and can get. Therefore, if you are not comfortable with this kind of work I will recommend you to avoid this fanfiction, however if you do want to proceed I will mark each chapter with necessary warnings (which won’t come up till we get to Vietnam itself.)

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

  
PART ONE

_A Mourning Nation_

CHAPTER ONE: _Three Shots were Fired_  
11/22/63  
Friday  
San Francisco, California

_Heart and soul_   
_I fell in love with you_   
_Heart and soul_   
_The way a fool would do…_

I have never had what you would call an easy life.

When I was born in August 1945 after a hard birth that nearly killed my mother during a stormy night at Burlington in North Carolina, my father had months ago died before my birth in the battle of Iwo Jima after a Japanese booby trap blew both of his legs off while he was dragging a wounded comrade to safety. Weeks after I was born, the Second World War had ended after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

With my father dead, Mom and I had to move to San Francisco to my aunt’s house temporarily because Mom couldn’t find any jobs in Burlington, and we we were living in severe poverty. My mother had found a job in a candy store and we were able to move into a nice house, out of my aunt’s house by the time I was 6 years old. My aunt’s son and my elder cousin James died in the Korean War at the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, at the first day of battle which was my birthday when the news of his death had arrived.

When I was 7, I enrolled into a local school where I met my best friends Jason Grace and Grover Underwood. Jason is a 6’1” tall guy who was the quarterback of our high school’s football team, he was one of the best our school ever had, nobody has ever since been as good as him. He was a giant, but a gentle one. He had sandy blond hair and electric blue eyes. Grover is a 5’9” tall guy who probably couldn’t even hurt a ant if he wanted. He was a very friendly guy, what you would call an hippie. He was all about counter-culture. He had curly brown hair and brown eyes. His laughter sounded like the bleating of a goat, and overall he was just a great guy to hang out with. Grover’s father worked in the FBI as a deputy chief agent -which also made Grover's counter-culture activism ironic- so we had nicknamed him G-Man. My mom had met and fallen in love with my English teacher, Paul Blofis, and they got married when I was just 14. He was a cool guy, and yes, I’ll admit I was at first weirded out over my English teacher and Mom dating, but I got used to it. I liked Paul and he liked me, and we got along nicely together.

We were in Al’s Diner, a local famous diner, waiting for our food and the rest of our friends to arrive.  
Al’s Diner had the usual checkerboard floor, and aqua blue walls with fluorescent lights lighting up the room in clear white light. The walls had decorations, such as Coca Cola pins, California and Nevada license plates, highway interstate signs, and some small notes that I couldn’t read from this distance. Me, Jason and Grover were sitting side by side in a red matte sofa with a black granite table, that had a picnic cover on top of it, a napkin dispenser, Heinz Ketchup and Mayonnaise, and the restaurant menu (which we did not need as we knew what to order,) set right next to the dispenser. The waitress, the wife of the owner of the diner, Mrs. Thompson brought our meals and neatly set the plates on the table and then the drinks, wished us a good meal and returned back to the kitchen. Mr. Al Thompson had recently bought a TV that was currently muted and was playing some movie which was set at the counter, turned towards us the customers. The radio meanwhile, which was on the other side of the counter and a bit further away, was playing Heart and Soul by the Cleftones. There were some other customers present, a couple around our age was sitting at the stools, between the TV and the radio, and drinking milkshakes. Nearby us a lady and her son and daughter were also having burgers and milkshakes.

“So,” I said after taking a sip of my vanilla milkshake, “Jason, are we gonna go to the beach this weekend?” I asked, as he took a bite of his burger and chewed while looking at me.

Last Wednesday Jason and I had decided to head to the beach to spend our weekend there together with all of our friends, given that the weather was quite nice and it had been a long time since we had been there. Jason had said he would be able to tell me whether he could come or not by Friday, which was today. As with our usual visits, we would spend time near a campfire with roasted marshmallows, some root beer, bottles of coke, some snacks and we would just hang out, like usual teenagers on a beach.

“Sure, someone else has the weekend shift at the bar anyway, I've got a deal on that. But I don’t know about the girls, or you Grover,” he turned to him, and so did I.

“I’m free too Percy, Uncle Ferdinand and my cousins aren’t coming here till Monday.”

After graduating from high school, Jason had found a job as a barman in a local bar, while Grover was working as a cashier in a local market.  
As for me, the jury was still out to figure out just what exactly I wanted to do. I did take shifts as a lifeguard at the beach for now, but that really wasn’t a reliable source of income now that winter was here, since the horrible winter of '62 people did not risk to come to vacation that much. Neither three of us had enough money to even think about to going to college, hell even leaving the state, and we had been considering joining the Army for some time. What else was there for us to do?

The door bell rung as someone came in, and Jason took a peek and then quickly turned around, grinning.

“They’re here,” he smiled just as Thalia, Jason’s elder sister, Piper, a friend from high school who was dating Jason, and Annabeth, also a friend from high school came into view.

Thalia, as usual, was dressed unorthodoxly. Her black hair looked like she had been shocked, a rat’s nest that did in a weird way look good on her. She and her brother had the exact same eyes, electric blue that would make you shiver when you made eye contact. Thalia’s were usually ice cold, while Jason’s eyes crackled with energy and life. She had a black leather jacket and a baggy black t-shirt, black jeans and boots on. Black is her favorite color, as you can guess. She dressed up pretty much as a goth, minus the gothic makeup. Piper had her straight brunette hair in a neat bun with a red bow, and a nice blue dress that reached her knees. She also had a accompanying leather purse slung over her left shoulder. Despite it being November, unlike in ‘62 where practically every state’s ass froze as the nation had plunged into a literal ice age, the weather in ‘63 was quite warm and nice.

Annabeth, she was wearing a white wool sweater with a pearl necklace around her neck, and a blue skirt that reached her knees, nearly the same cut of Piper’s dress. Her curly blond hair was flowing freely to her shoulders, cupping her beautiful face. I felt slightly blushing as I looked at her.  
They slipped into the sofa that was facing us. Grover was facing Thalia, at the very left corner, the wall side. I was in the middle facing Annabeth, and at the other side of the table Piper and Jason were facing each other, as Jason grabbed one of Piper’s hand.

“Hey guys, how are you doing?” Piper chirped after they settled, smiling happily towards Jason who was just as happily reflecting the same emotions.

“We’re fine Piper, thanks for coming along. How are you girls doing?” I said, then took a large bite of my cheeseburger. It tasted absolutely delicious.

“Well,” she took her eyes off Jason and turned to face me, her kaleidoscope eyes shone under the fluorescent lights. “Annabeth and I are going to go shopping later today. Thalia,” she shot her a glare, “of course, isn’t coming.” Which got a chuckle from her.

“Won’t ever happen. Hell will freeze over before I do.” She shrugged, and turned her attention to the menu she was reading, trying to decide what to eat.

“Grover, we were planning on visiting the beach this weekend. Are we still going? Annabeth is coming along mostly to buy some groceries and supplies for that.” Piper asked, meanwhile Thalia pushed the menu towards Annabeth, which she took in her hands.

“Yes,” he smiled, and Piper nodded. Piper always had this aura where she was always the spotlight of attention, and would instantly uplift any grumpy mood. Her kaleidoscope eyes shined with affection and care, like a caring mother and her infant.

“Say, Grover,” Annabeth cut in, rising her eyes from the menu, “did you read the book I loaned to you weeks ago?”

“Moby Dick?” He laughed sheepishly, “Uh, yes I did, and I was going to bring it but uh, I forgot to bring it.” He scratched the back of his head, Annabeth’s stormy eyes always made you shiver, lying in front of her was not an easy thing to do. The soft glare she gave him did not help Grover either. His happy smile just seconds ago had disappeared completely.

“That’s alright," she decided finally, and Grover relaxed. As if she was going to kill him over a book. The thought got a chuckle out of me.

“Bring it when we go to the beach?”

“You got it.”

Annabeth nodded silently and passed the menu to Piper. She then looked at me.

“How is Sally?” She asked, the mention of my mother bringing a smile to my lips.

“Mom’s alright, she wants you three to come over some time, she is “quite bored,” I made finger quotation marks as Annabeth laughed, “Said she wants to spend some time you all.”

“Bring her to the beach with us,” Annabeth offered, smiling, “I want to see her too.”

“Me too!” Piper agreed. Thalia nodded her head with approval.

“Alright, I’ll ask her. She doesn’t work in the weekends.” I said.

What we didn’t know was, none of us that weekend was going to go to the beach.

“How is Malcolm?” I asked.

“Good, he is studying for his exams, Mom won’t even let him catch a break.”

“Sounds like your mother.” I laughed and she smiled, her soft smile making my heart skip a beat. I was amazed by her natural beauty. The way she looked in any angle was too beautiful to even be legal. We had met Piper when we were seven years old, her father and her had moved to California from Oklahoma to start a career for acting, and by the time Piper was in high school, he was a Hollywood fame. Annabeth, her brother and her parents moved to California with her parents and brother when she was nine years old, from Virginia. Because of that she had a faint southern accent. Her father was a history professor, at the very same university she was going to now, and her mother was a famed architect. She was the richest of all of us, but she did not show off her wealth, or act the usual way the rich kids did. Thalia, of course, we had met when we met Jason. Although she was expelled that very same year when we started school, she was this protective sister of our friend group (and the elder one).

“Hey,” Jason’s eyes had wandered off from Piper’s face to the TV, and had widened. “There's a news bulletin on.” I poked my head out, and on the TV " _CBS NEWS BULLETIN"_ was written over and over vertically, the movie that was playing when we had came in had disappeared. He turned to Mrs. Thompson, who was taking a order from a family who had just came in and settled in a 4 chair table. When the sweet woman was done taking note of the family's order into her notebook, Jason called out to her.

“Mrs. Thompson? Can you cut the radio’s volume and turn the television’s volume on? And can you bring me another milkshake please, and the girls want to give a order too.” Thalia ordered a cheeseburger with a chocolate milkshake, Piper ordered a salad (she was on a diet), and Annabeth just asked for a vanilla milkshake. Mrs. Thompson took the order and left, she tuned up the TV’s volume, and as she came around the counter, turned off the radio and disappeared into the kitchen.

What we were about to hear, would shatter whatever plans we had for our lives, and alter the course of history forever.

“ _Here is a bulletin from CBS News. President Kennedy has been a victim of an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas._ ” Everyone in the diner gasped, the chatter died down and the only thing now speaking was Walter Cronkite’s voice coming through the TV.

“ _It is currently unknown yet whether the President survived the attack against him. The incident was this: The President, Mrs. Kennedy and Governor Connally of Texas driving in the President’s famed Bubbletop car from Dallas Airport to Downtown Dallas where the President was scheduled to make a speech. Three bullet shots were heard to ring out, the President slumped to the lap of Mrs. Kennedy, witnesses said they saw blood streaming from his head._ ”

 _Oh shit_. Was the only thing that I could think of.

_The President was shot?_

Piper had closed her mouth with her hand as she stared at the TV, the back of her head turned to us. Jason had taken his hand, that was just interlinked with Piper’s hand, and put it underneath his chin, cupping his jaw. His eyes were wide as saucers and while that did look funny, funny was the last thing in anyone’s mind right now. Annabeth looked worried, her eyebrows had knitted together upwards as her lips had come into a small frown. She, even in that situation, looked cute, and beautiful as I felt my heart skip another beat as my eyes landed on her. She couldn’t see the television from where she was sitting, but her head was turned towards the source of the sound. Thalia also looked worried, but her face as usual did lack any actual display of emotion. Grover, who could never hide his emotions, had tears in his eyes and looked like he was about to cry.  
As for me, I felt blank. I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing.

“ _Governor Connally, slumped into the bottom of the car, bullet wounds were seen to be in his chest. The car itself rushed on as Mrs. Kennedy was heard to say, “Oh no.” It took him directly to a nearby hospital, the Parkland Hospital, where the President and Governor Connally were taken in to the emergency room, and witnesses there refused to comment on whether the President was still alive, or not._ ”

“Oh my God,” Piper gasped. Cronkite’s voice turned into background noise as we all looked at each other, trying to comprehend what we just heard. Everybody in the diner started talking about it.

“He, he will be alright? Right?” Piper asked to all of us, as if any one of us knew the answer, and Thalia snorted.

“Didn’t you hear Piper? Cronkite said he got shot in the head, no man can survive that.” She said with a “ _duh_ ” voice.

“But he’s the President!” she said, as if that instantly made the man invulnerable.

“President or not he’s still human, Pipes,” Annabeth noted, herself nervously tapping the table with her fingers, worry plastered all over her face.

“They took him to the hospital though, didn’t they?” Jason remarked, “If they got him there quickly, maybe he will survive? I heard the Texas Medical Center at Dallas is quite good.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, but something wasn’t feeling right. How was he shot? By who? Last year in November, the Cuban missile crisis had nearly brought the world to a end. And Kennedy has gotten us out of that mess, if he died, what would happen? With the Soviet Union? With the rest of the world? _At home?_

“Well I don’t know about that, but I do know that people usually shot in the head don’t make it Jason, hospital or not.” Thalia countered, and it was hard to argue with that.

“Guys,” Grover sounded like a wounded animal, he was always a fan of Kennedy. He always found Nixon to be “crooked”, as he put it, which I found funny. I didn’t care about politics that much, but Nixon had been our Senator, and Vice President, and quite honestly, he seemed like a good guy. He had barely lost the election in ‘60. “We don’t know who shot him or why, why would anyone shoot him?” he sniffled.

“Yeah, that’s what I was wondering, who the hell shot him? Who even dares to shoot the man who leads the Free World?” Jason added in.

“Maybe some renegade? Someone who hates him, a traitor?” Annabeth wondered. “Or a… KGB agent? Or what about a Cuban agent? Or maybe-”

“Uh, Annabeth,” Jason interrupted her. Annabeth always did have an issue with rambling and when she realized she blushed beet red and stared down at her plate, and in that moment, we all smiled. But none of us laughed, given the circumstances, that would be inappropriate.

The smiles died out quickly as well anyway.

“I don’t know,” I grumbled, “I don’t know how anyone would want to kill that man.”

“Me neither,” Jason said. “All I know is I hope they catch whoever shot him.”

Our conversation went on for an hour as we kept eating, Cronkite kept informing us about the situation, KRLD had apparently stated a man was arrested for the assassination attempt, and played a interview with a guy who said he had saw the arrest. Later, two priests had entered Kennedy’s operation room to give final eulogies. The New York Stock Exchange had a panic over the assassination attempt too. Around an hour later though, the final nail in the coffin arrived.

“Well, I just hope they catch that son of a—” Thalia was interrupted, and the rest of the diner, as Cronkite took off his glasses, and sighed. Then, he said the golden words that made history.

“ _From Dallas Texas, the flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1 PM Central Standard Time, 2 O’clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago._ ” I felt my blood go cold. Piper’s lower lip started to quiver as a tear shed from her left eye. Jason let out a huge sigh, then looked at his plate as if it held the meaning of life. Annabeth frowned deeply. Grover was now fully crying. Meanwhile Thalia looked like she wanted to murder the guy who had just murdered the President.

_Murdered the President._

I still couldn't believe it. It felt like a dream. It felt like, in all of us, something was irreversibly damaged.

“ _Vice President Johnson has left the hospital, in Dallas, but we do not know where he has proceeded, presumably he will be taking the Oath of Office shortly, to become the 36th President of the United States._ ”

_Well, shit._

_So much for going to the beach._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s Chapter One. It is the first time I’m writing a fanfic at all, so I hope you guys liked it. With Kennedy dead and Johnson becoming President, the first domino that will lead to the escalation in Vietnam has fallen.
> 
> Drop a comment and a kudos, and let me know what you think! Thank you for your time, have a good day. :)
> 
> Published: 3/3/2021  
> Edited #1: 3/4/2021


	2. 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” - LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON, 2 weeks before the 1964 election.
> 
> All rights go to Rick Riordan.

  
CHAPTER TWO: _36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson_  
12/01/63  
San Francisco, California  
Sunday

Time marched on after Kennedy’s death. The man who shot Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, had also killed a police officer named J.D. Tippit during a botched getaway when Oswald, who had defected to the Soviet Union but returned last year, who was also a Marine, tried to hide in a movie theater after he ran away from a book depository (from where he had shot the President, and while running away killed the police officer) but was caught. He was killed two days later by a nightclub owner called Jack Ruby when he was being transferred, ruling out any possible trial or further interrogation. Johnson became President, quickly settled down to work, and after lying in the capitol and a state funeral in D.C., Kennedy was quickly forgotten, and became a name in history.  
  
We of course, did not get to go to the beach. We watched Kennedy’s funeral, from the artillery salute to the now widowed Mrs. Kennedy and her son and daughter, all in black, and the rest of the Kennedy family watching the casket being carried by soldiers in D.C. all the way to the Capitol building to lie in state. The emotional Hail to the Chief that played as he lied there, and of course, the hundreds of people who were crying and there to pay their respects. It all happened three days later after he was shot. Two days later after the funeral, Johnson gave his "All I have I would have given _gladly_ not to be standing here today.” speech in front of Congress.

Other than politics, life also marched on. Jason kept working as a barman and Grover kept working as a cashier. Annabeth, who was going to the University of San Francisco, continued her architecture studies so much, we barely saw her ever since we watched Kennedy die in Al’s Diner. She and Malcolm wasn’t with us when we watched the funeral, they were too busy. Malcolm had aced his tests that week, he was a Chase kid after all. Piper found a job as a waitress at a local restaurant, while Thalia as usual continued her delinquent ways.

As for me, well, I was still unemployed.

Today, a stormy Sunday, was the beginning of Advent. The sun had just risen, however the sky was a brilliant gray—

 _Just like Annabeth’s eyes_ , a voice in the back of my head whispered. _Shut up._

There was rain and some occasional thunder, and the fireplace was lit. We were in the living room, it was a cozy environment, the one where you would grab blankets and snuggle on the sofa and watch some John Wayne movie on TV, or some soap opera depending on your mood. I prefer John Wayne, if you have to ask. Mom and I were together in the living room. Mom was wearing a plain blue checker apron dress, her brown hair in a bun. I was wearing a brown sweater and pants. 

As for what we were doing…

“Percy, hand me the decorations box would you?” 

I handed her the large carton box, filled with small usual Christmas tree decorations; Baubles, poinsettias, tinsels, a star top… 

“Mom,” I said quietly and suddenly out of the blue. “Do you miss dad?” The question was unexpected, and she froze mid-way while hanging a bauble, then turned around to me.

“Of course Percy, I miss him so much.” We were both quiet for a moment. “It’s a shame you never got to know him.” I saw that the question made her feel uncomfortable, and deciding not to drag this on further and beat around the bush, the thought had been in me for a long time after all, might as well strike while the iron is hot.

“I want to join the Army.” I blurted out, just as she was turning around to the tree after grabbing another bauble from the box after hanging the one she had in her hands.

This time Mom didn’t just freeze, the other bauble she had grabbed fell from her hand as she turned around to me, again, staring at me in shock.

“You _what?”_ she glared at me in horror, which painfully reminded me of her face when she read the letter that announced that my father had been killed in action. I had been right next to her as she collapsed after reading it. I winced at the memory.

“Come on Mom,” I pleaded, but she was already shaking her head, “ there is nothing else for me to do! I’m unemployed, I—”

“I am not sending one more man of my family to die in a battlefield! _My own son!”_ she cried.

“Mom, there is no war going on right now! The Second World War is over, the Korean War is over, it’s peace in our time! Once I come back, having served, I’ll easily find a job! They’ll just have us sitting in some barracks for a year!” I argued.

“Percy, when your father joined the Marines in 1940, nobody even believed we would join the fight, and we did! Who is to say we won’t have another war anytime now?” She pleaded, and I sighed.

“Mom, I thought about this a lot. I want to serve my country, I love my country, I want to serve, just like Dad,” the mention made her wince again. “Please, I want to. But I don’t want you to feel resenting to me because of it. Jason and Grover have been thinking about it for a while too.” She bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

“It’s your life Percy,” she finally decided, “I cannot interfere with it. You are an adult now. It’s your decision, but, think about it. Think it over, there is so much you can do…” She trailed off, hoping this final plead would work. But she saw that I was determined, and knew it was pointless. 

We were both silent for the rest of the time we spent hanging decorations on the Christmas tree.

* * *

12/25/63  
San Francisco, California  
Wednesday

Christmas rolled over pretty quickly. Temperatures were just above 32 Fahrenheit, and there was usual rain, the clouds weren’t going to leave for a long time. It seemed like we would have no snow this year, unlike in 1962. Which was alright I suppose, nobody wanted to relive _1962_ , but the environment was just not the same without snow, like a critical decoration piece was missing from the set.

Mom and I had decided to host over our friends this Christmas evening, and we had invited Jason, Grover, Annabeth, Malcolm, Thalia and Piper. Sadly Mr. And Mrs. Chase were too busy to come, but they apparently promised Annabeth they would be with her in New Years, as she had told me when we met a week ago when she did finally decide to come out of her studying cave, which she rightfully thought was a straight out lie. They were too busy with their work, and didn’t care for their children that much. Mr. Underwood and Mrs. Underwood respectfully declined, as they had their own family over, but allowed Grover to come over, so long as he would return before it was late to be with them. Practically every other parents of my friends said the same thing for the rest.

 _Stagecoach_ was playing on TV, right after the evening news had announced that yesterday the New York International Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport, in the slain President’s honor. I was laying on the sofa lazily watching the movie, covered in warm, heavy blankets. I felt like I was twelve all over again, fuzzy and tucked in as I watched TV, toys splattered all over the floor like a mine field for any non careful person striding in, not caring for a thing in the world. Stagecoach was my favorite movie ever since I was a kid, and I was glad it was on air instead of some soap opera, like all the other channels right now, which I usually disliked. The memories were nice to relive. 

Mom was in the kitchen cooking dinner for the upcoming guests, and it smelled delicious from here. Paul was sitting at his rocking chair, nearby the sofa, and reading a book. 

Around a hour later after the movie had started, someone knocked on the door and my lazy ass was too bothered to stand up and open the door, greet whoever it was. I was too drawn in to the movie to realize who it was.

“Sally, can you get the door?” Paul called after the third knock. Mom came out and looked at us and called us lazy grunts, which made us both laugh, and then went to the door.

“Come in, come in!” I heard Mom greet our guests, there was some shuffling around as coats and hats were taken off, and hanged on the coat rack. Wet shoes were taken off and put aside. A pile of gifts were carefully put aside as well, to be opened later. I heard Jason wish Mom “ _Merry Christmas, Mrs. Jackson_.” from here.

One by one Jason, Grover, Annabeth, Malcolm, Piper, Thalia and finally, Mom came in to the living room. Jason was wearing a navy blue sweater with a white shirt tucked underneath it with some black pants. Grover had a Christmas sweater on that had all sorts of Christmas decals on it, and the same pants Jason was wearing. Thalia had dressed up a bit more nicely this time, with a black plain t-shirt that didn’t look gothic his time, and some black pants. Annabeth had a red shift dress on, and she was absolutely stunning. Piper had a pink sweater with a black skirt on. I greeted them all, we all wished Merry Christmas to each other. I was still too lazy to stand up, but had to move up to a sitting position to make room, which I did so grudgingly. Jason and Grover settled in to my sides on the sofa, as Thalia sat down on the couch, claiming it like it was her domain. Malcolm, who was just fourteen, sat down in front of us in the floor, settling down Indian style. He, just like his sister had blond hair (which actually looked similar to Jason’s hairstyle,) and her gray stormy eyes. Annabeth and Piper offered to help Mom cook food, and disappeared into the kitchen with her.

“Hey guys, Merry Christmas.” I wished them again.

“Merry Christmas to you too.” The trio replied, and then Jason’s face dropped when he saw what was on TV.

“ _Stagecoach_?” Jason groaned, “Perce, we’ve watched it a million times. How about watching something else?” 

“Shut up!” I said playfully, “It’s the best movie ever made!”

“It loses taste when you watch it a million times.” Jason pointed out. I groaned, rolled my eyes and turned to him.

“Jason, every other channel is playing some kind of _love movie,"_ I said like it was a horrifying thing, "right now. Do you want to watch that instead?” He wrinkled his nose in disgust, and then laughed and relaxed on the sofa.

 _“Stagecoach_ it is.” He surrendered. I smiled in triumph. 

“Give me some of the blankets,” Grover said. “ I want to get cozy.”

“No.”

“Hey, me too.” 

“No!”

“Me too!”

 _“No!”_ I shook my head, but they both snatched one from me as I laughed trying to wave off their invading hands, but then just laid back and let them cozy up. I handled Malcolm a shorter blanket as well.

“I’ll charge you for this.” I joked.

“Yeah right, if I charged you every time you borrowed something from me, I’d be a millionaire.” Jason laughed.

Afterwards we quietly watched the movie. 

* * *

Around half an hour later, I felt thirsty, so I got up and headed to the kitchen. Annabeth was absent, but mom and Piper were talking about some new fashion trends, as Piper chopped onions, I cursed under my breath as I got tears in my eyes, and mom was preparing some mushrooms. As I poured myself a cup of water and took in the smell of that absolutely delicious chicken they were cooking, trying not to pay attention to the onions, I gulped the whole glass of water down. I set the glass on the table and turned around to leave, and just as I was leaving the kitchen Annabeth came out of the bathroom, and I stopped.

“Hey,” I said.

“Howdy.” she said with a deliberate thick southern accent and we both laughed.

“Wanna talk?” I offered, suddenly feeling the need for another drink as my throat went dry, “I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“Sure.” she said a bit guiltily, and we turned and headed to my room. I shut the door.

Annabeth’s eyes wandered around my room as she sat neatly down on my bed, and I awkwardly laid my back on the door. 

“What’s up?” she asked, resting her eyes on me.

“Nothing,” I shrugged, “how is it going?” I asked.

“I’m alright, studying and all, you know, the usual. Mom’s standing like a dangling sword on top of our heads about it. It’s Christmas now though, “ she smiled, “your Mom is the absolute best. I swear she is a magician in the kitchen! Tell me, does she have some kind of secret magic power?” she said gleefully, and I shrugged in a “I don’t know” expression. But then she lost her smile, as if she remembered something that discomforted her. I knew what was bothering her right away.

“Your parents are busy, again?” I asked, but already knew the answer. They had declined our invitation, Mr. Chase had “exam papers” to grade and Mrs. Chase was out of state, some kind of business deals at Oregon.

“Yeah,” all the joy in her voice had died out. “I don’t even remember the last time we celebrated Christmas together. Work is more important than family for them. You have such a great mom, I just wish…” she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. I nodded in empathy.

I wondered in my mind, thinking about how if I was a parent the last thing I would want was for my child to be is to so feel disconnected from me that he or she would wish for another person to replace me. Was parenthood all that hard, after all? I thought about Mom, and the way she spent so much time and effort raising me, even when I was a pain, even when she would feel disappointed when I did something stupid, the never ending fire of love she had for me in her heart was a feeling nothing ever could be compared to in life, or come close to it. I felt sad for Annabeth, as I knew she didn’t feel the same way with her parents. 

“Well its not time for doom and gloom, its Christmas, right?” I said, trying to sober up the mood and she smiled.

“Yeah, now isn’t the time.” She agreed, and got up off the bed, the bed squeaked as she did so.

“Oh, I forgot…” My acting was foul, and Annabeth instantly crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow.

“ _You did not forget_ to buy me a Christmas present.” She tried to look scornful, but she couldn’t hide the smile from her lips.

“Oh, who?” I said, mocking pain as I held a hand on my chest. “ _Me?_ Never…” I trailed off, and then grinned as I turned around to my drawer, slid the top most drawer box open and pulled out a small wrapped box out, shut it and then handed the giftbox to her.

“It’s small.” She observed, holding the wrapped giftbox in her hands.

“Well, what did you expect? A car?” I joked, and she looked at me.

“Maybe.”

“Well, if you had _large_ hopes, Ms. Chase, I’m afraid you are going to be disappointed.”

“Well, Mr. Seaweed Brain, lets hope I like this gift or I’m afraid I'm going to turn you into dust.”

“Oh come on, Wise Girl,” I rolled my eyes, “You wouldn’t dare. Now, open the darn thing.”

She unwrapped the thing, a small black jewelry box was in it.

“What is this, a marriage proposal?” She asked, laughing, her eyes glinting. 

“To your utmost _disappointment,_ no.” This time it was her turn to roll her eyes, “Open it.” but when she opened the box and saw what was inside her eyes widened.

“Percy…” She looked at me, and then took out the bracelet. It was bronze, and the words **_DAUGHTER OF WISDOM_** was engraved on it. You know, Annabeth’s mom was named Athena, and I made that connection. I also made a connection of a very light wallet feeling in my back pocket. 

“Percy, this is too much. I can’t possibly accept—” 

“What am I gonna do, sell it on a yard sale? It’s yours now, put it on.”

“Where did you find the money to buy this?”

“I robbed a bank.”

_“Percy.”_

“I worked extra shifts as a life guard, and may have borrowed some money from Mom and Paul. God, Annabeth,” I groaned, “what are you, the IRS? Put the darn thing on.” She put the bracelet on.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful.” and she beamed at me. I felt my heart go critical. Then she let out a “oh,” and a “wait here,” and came back a moment later.

“You got me a _sweater.”_ I said, with a are-you-kidding me face.

“Yes?” She rose an eyebrow, as if it was a dumb statement.

“And to think…” I looked at her bracelet and then to her face, and she shrugged.

“All of your sweaters are ugly.”

“They are not. And if I may add, this “gift” is an insult compared to what I got you.”

“It is not!” She exclaimed, “I mean it. All of your sweaters are ugly, I mean, they don’t look good at you. You get what I mean. Ask anyone. And how was I supposed to know you were going to buy me _this_?” She tapped her bracelet, pouting. When Annabeth got worried, or frustrated, emotional essentially, her southern accent would start to become more noticeable. Her eyebrows were cutely knit slightly downwards together in frustration. I laughed loudly.

“It’s all right Annabeth, while I am hurt by your insult to my pick of sweaters, I was joking. Thank you.” I smiled.

“Oh, why do I bother with you…”

“Because you love me.” I instantly regretted the very poor choice of words that left my mouth, but didn’t dare flinch.

“Mmhm.” _It was sarcastic, heart. Stop or I’m going to have a heart attack, and that won’t do us any favors._

She wandered to my desk, where some picture frames had piqued her attention. Her eyes landed on a picture frame that contained a picture of a man, no more than 25, smiling to the camera in a Marine uniform, with a M1 Garand Rifle in one hand as a young brunette lady was kissing him on the cheek as he was grinning and holding up some papers with his other hand. Annabeth looked at it for a bit before she looked at me, drawing the connection.

“Is this your father?” she asked softly as I moved up to her, we stood side by side looking at the picture.

“Yeah. Poseidon Jackson.” I said, not sure what to say more. She thought for a bit.

“You look a lot like your father,” she added, Her eyes darted up, to my face, and down to the picture, as if evaluating us both. _Poseidon and Percy._

It was a correct assessment, I had my father’s sea green eyes and jet black hair, the picture was black and white but you could still see how brightly my father’s eyes shined in it. Our facial structures were similar. One might have thought that nothing physically had passed on to me from my mother.

“Yeah, Mom says so too. I remind him of her and that makes her sad, you know.” I said awkwardly, it was true, and she just smiled. 

“Do you wish you could’ve known him?” she asked, her eyes locked to mine. I remembered during Advent when Mom and I were decorating the Christmas tree she had told me it was a shame I had never got to know him.

I hadn’t payed thought to the question when Mom had asked, as I was busy trying to convince her to not hate me for thinking about joining the Army, but I thought about Annabeth’s question for a while, staying quiet.

“I… I guess. Yeah, of course. Mom always tells me amazing stories about him. But at the same time, I don’t know, I feel guilty for asking that. I mean, how many kids have fathers who died in war and wishes that instead of dying for a good cause, their fathers would be with them? It sounds weird now that I say it, but I just don’t know, I do want to know him, have him here with us if I could, at the same time I know that he died for a good reason and selfishly wanting him back is just not… I don’t know, right?” I stated, and she seemed surprised by my answer. She then nodded.

“I wish I had parents like yours. I mean I have a father, but I see him so rarely, forget about speaking, that I barely know anything about him. You never got to meet yours, and yet you probably know more about him then I do about my dad. Besides, Paul is pretty cool too. And Sally, I-I just wish,” the emotions that had bottled up inside her over the constant ignoring by her parents had surfaced, and she frowned as she spoke. “I just wish I had a mom like her, you know. Who is there for me. Cares for me permanently, and doesn’t treat me like a robot. I know Sally treats me like her daughter, but I just wish Athena did that too.” She fidgeted with her new bracelet. “She finds designing buildings and dad finds teaching the Battle of the Somme to strangers more important than I and Malcolm.” Her voice cracked in the end, and she set the picture frame down on the desk.

“Hey,” I said as she bit her lip, she apologized as she tried not to cry.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Come here,” I hugged her as she rest her head on my shoulder. She didn’t cry, but I heard a sob escape her mouth.

“I‘m sorry,” she mumbled, “Didn’t mean to doom and gloom, or ruin the Christmas spirit.” She laughed shakily. I rest my head on her hair.

“It’s alright. Everything will be okay.” I stroked her back like she was a wounded cat for a bit, trying to make her feel better. 

“Annabeth.” She looked up to me as I lifted my head off her hair, her eyes were glowing. She looked dazed. I probably did too. We stared at each other for a while, and when her eyes darted down to my lips and then to my eyes, I held back my breath. We reeled closer, our noses brushing _, - just how deep are those gray eyes, and why are they so… lively… and so beautiful? -_ We were tilting our heads and—

“Percy, Annabeth?” A knock came to the door. We separated as if someone had just shot a rifle to the sky next to us, startled and mortified.

“Uh, yes?” I replied. Piper was at the door.

“Sally wondered where Annabeth was. She said you both were here. Um,” she hesitated, “If I'm interrupting som—”

“No, no,” I said, “we were just talking. We’ll be out in a moment.”

“Okay,” She said and left.

I looked at her, laughing awkwardly as I scratched the back of my head. 

“Thanks, Percy.” She smiled, we were still blushing magenta red, but she wasn’t shy. Her eyes looked like a fire was blazing in them.

“You’re a good friend.”

Something in her tone when she said _friend_ indicated there was something more than “friend”, but Mom was calling for her, she was teaching them both her master tricks in the kitchen. I’m sure G-Man and Jason were also wondering where the hell I was.

“But we gotta go now, Sally wants to teach me how to cook some more.” She stopped for a second.  
“Wear your new sweater.” I nodded, and she left my room. I took off my “ugly” sweater and put it on the bed and wore my new, sea green sweater and left my room, she headed to the kitchen as I returned to the living room.

“Where the hell have you been?” Jason asked as I walked towards the sofa.

“At my room,” I said, still dumbstruck, then looked at the TV. _Stagecoach_ had ended, and now _The Searchers_ were on. I plopped on the sofa, between Jason and Grover.

My mind was still spinning like I was kicked at the head, my heart still stammering.

 _We were just inches away from kissing._ The thought did not help my current hyperventilation at all.

“You alright man? You look like you're gonna faint.” Grover said worriedly.

“I'm alright, G-man.” He didn't seem convinced but didn’t press on.

I thought for a moment.

“Do I wear ugly sweaters?” I asked out loud.

Jason was the one to reply.

“Yeah, though the one you have on now looks nic— Wait, when did you change? And I haven’t seen that one before.”

“Christmas gift.” I replied. So maybe she was right that my pick of sweaters may be ugly, but still.

_We nearly just kissed._

_Oh god._

* * *

When the sun set, the rain outside had calmed down to a light breeze. Dinner, or should I say, the Christmas dinner was ready, the girls had finished setting up the table and cooking as _The Searchers_ was finishing, we all sat down at the dining table. Paul sat at the lone front seat, Mom, who was at the left row and the corner, was between him and Annabeth, whom was flanked by both Piper and Thalia further left. Meanwhile, on the right side, as we faced the girls, Grover was sitting at the corner, and I was next to him, Jason and Malcolm on my right. I was facing Annabeth, and she was avoiding to looking at me, any eye contact we made resulted in us blushing.

The girls had cooked and prepared a roasted chicken, some ham, roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables, a salad, mushrooms filled with cheese and two bottles of Coke and a jug of water.

I got some roasted chicken and potatoes along with two slices of ham and a glass of coke. Paul also had some roasted chicken and potatoes, along with some roasted vegetables as well, and a glass of Coke. Grover had some roasted potatoes, vegetables and mushrooms with a glass of water. Jason had gotten himself a large chunk of whatever was available on the table(expect the salad.) Malcolm had just like me some chicken, potatoes and ham, and a glass of coke as well. Mom had chicken and mushrooms, and some salad with a glass of Coke. Annabeth had some chicken, potatoes and a bit of the salad, and a glass of coke. Piper’s plate consisted only of salad and mushrooms, and she had a glass of water. Thalia, just like her brother, had whatever available expect the salad, and also a glass of coke.

“This is absolutely delicious, darling,” Paul said, after taking a bite of the chicken.

“Yeah, Mrs. Jackson, this is great,” Malcolm nearly moaned at the taste of his chicken, “I wish Mom cooked like this.” 

Nobody even thought about what Malcolm said but I saw Annabeth’s fork freeze midair as she was about to take a bite from her chicken.

“Thank you,” Mom beamed to all of us. “It wasn't just my work though. Give the girls some credit too.”

“Except Thalia,” Piper added, and we all laughed while Thalia said nothing. She was too focused and in love with her food to even care.

“Well, thanks to all of you.” I said, “because this is _truly_ magnificent.”

“Same here,” Jason agreed, “Thank you Mrs. Jackson, and the girls.”

We ate, and talked, topics derived from how was Annabeth and Malcolm’s studies were going, Piper talking about the new cafe she was working at, Grover talked about some of his weird experiences as a cashier, Paul talked about a weird funny incident he had on the road, Mom talked about some of the recipes.

“Well,” Mom said after explaining the recipe for the apple pie that we would have later, “it’s time for gifts, isn’t it? Does anybody wants dessert as well? Some tea?” Some _yes, please_ and _no thank you, I'm full_ ’s flew around the table, but Mom nonetheless got up and headed to the kitchen. Everyone else went to the corridor to grab their gifts, and we all sat down again.

Given the amount of guests we had, there was a rather large pile of gifts waiting to be unwrapped. Mom brought some caramel apple pie and tea.

This was going to take a while.  
  


* * *

“You did not get me a book.” Thalia glared holes into Annabeth’s soul.

“I did. You should read some times, Thalia.”

“The Iliad? Annabeth, I swear—”

“Thanks so much, Percy!” Grover beamed to me when he was finished unwrapping his gift. Given that most of my Christmas-gifts-budget had went to Annabeth’s bracelet, I had to go light on my already abused wallet with the rest of the people on the list. I had gotten Grover a small statue of the god of the wild in Greek Mythology, Pan. Grover had gotten me a black mug that had the green letters “PJ” on it.

“I am not going to read this book.” Thalia declared. “I won’t.”

“Thalia… Come on!”

“No.”

“This is great, Percy. Thanks a lot!” Jason smiled to me. While I was shopping for gifts for Grover, I had encountered a small model of a P-51 Mustang, the same plane Jason’s Second World War Ace father had flown. Jason had gotten me some socks. 

Yes, some socks.

“Really funny.”

“Hey, new sweaters, new socks. A whole new you. Completely renovated.”

“Shut up.” I said, but we both laughed when we made eye contact.

“Oh honey, you didn’t have to.” Mom blushed to Paul, as he handed her a fine notebook that had her name in bold letters on it's cover. Meanwhile Paul had a stack of books he had received from many of us as a gift. Meanwhile I had gifted him a nice pen.

“Piper,” I softly got up and reached over to her, “here is your gift.”

“Oh, thank you.” She smiled at me. I nodded, and she handed me my gift.

I had gotten Piper a nice wool scarf. She had bought me some sea scented candles.

“Oh, these are quite nice.” I said. “Thanks.” We said to each other.

“Oh, Mrs. Jackson,” Malcolm blushed, I saw mom handing her a large board game called _Diplomacy_. “Thank you.” Malcolm’s gift to Mom a necklace with a small rose in it.

“Oh, Malcolm, what a sweet little kid you are. You didn’t have to.” Malcolm blushed even further, and shrugged.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, darling.”

“This apple pie is very good, Mrs. Jackson.” Jason moaned out of nowhere, and kept eating.

“Thank you, Pipes,” Annabeth said to Piper, blushing. She had bought her a nice silver watch. When she raised her hand to put it on, Piper noticed Annabeth’s bracelet.

“Ooh, thats a new one,” Piper said. Annabeth eyes widened in alarm, and she looked at me.

 _Oh, shit._ I thought, and that’s probably what she was thinking as well.

“Can I see it?” she said, not noticing Annabeth’s expression.

“Um, er, sure.” She took of her bracelet and handed it to her, and Piper read the words engraved on it. 

“Annabeth, this is so cute!” Piper nearly squeaked. “Who bought this for you?”

“Um, a friend.” Annabeth hesitated.

“And who is this _friend_?” Piper asked, Annabeth sighed.

“Me,” I said. “I bought it for her.” Piper looked at me, her eyes widening and a grin appearing on her face. When she realized something, her grin grew even larger.

“Ooh, that’s what you two were doing in there. And,” she laughed, “That’s why you have a new sweater on.”

“Yeah,” I muttered as Annabeth and I blushed red. “Good catch.”

Piper opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted when Mom handed Annabeth a gift. 

It was two owl earrings, made of pure silver, and Annabeth gaped.

“Um,” she hesitated, this was the second person of the Jackson Family giving her a expensive gift after all, “Sally, er, I don’t think—”

“Nonsense!” Mom waved her hand dismissively, “I bought these for you personally. After all, you are all my children, and welcome to this house anytime.” She beamed and Annabeth smiled gratefully. _Also with pain_ , I noticed.

I sighed. I wondered if her relationship with her parents would ever get any better.

“Thank you.” She blushed, then handed Mom her gift, which was a nice wine glass that had Mom’s name in white plastered on a side, in fancy font.

 _“See,”_ Mom blushed, “I feel the same way now. Thank you darling, this is such a nice gift.” 

“Thank you too. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, dear.”

When Annabeth turned her head to me, she looked at me with an awe-struck expression, and I grinned to her.

“You two…” Piper began, but Annabeth groaned.

“Piper, please.”

“All right, all right. Don’t get all angry at me…” She chuckled, and continued eating her apple pie.

More gifts were exchanged, more apple pie was eaten, more stories shared…

It was a perfect moment, and I was grateful for everyone to be here, and for everything. 

* * *

  
With dinner and the after wards chatter over, it was becoming late, and time for our guests to leave. Grover had to go home a bit early, so he had already departed. He had thanked us, and we thanked him for being here with us, and left around half an hour ago.

“Bye, Thalia.” Mom and I said in unison, and she thanked us both for the absolutely great food and gifts. She put on her jacket and left earlier than her brother, probably to mix into the late night crowd. Jason and Piper wore their shoes, and were hand in hand ready to leave.

“Hey, you two. Thanks for being here with us tonight.” 

“Thanks,” Jason said. Piper smiled.

“Have a great night, see you two later. Be careful out there.”

“Alright man, see you later. Thanks a lot for the dinner and all, it was absolutely great.” Jason said, and I smiled. We were all smiling.

“Thanks for being here, catch you later. Watch your ass on the street,” I laughed, and he and Piper took off to the street. I stepped out to the porch.

Annabeth came out next, she thanked Mom and Paul for a lovely evening and stepped out to the porch. Mom and Paul went in.

_Ah, finally, some privacy again._

“Hey,” I turned to Annabeth. She had her winter coat on, I hadn’t seen it since she had taken it off. She had a winter cap on her head, and her hair came down from the sides, twirling around in the chilly night breeze.

“Hey.” She said. 

“Listen,” I said, gulping, She turned around to me.

_Now or never._

“Annabeth… I-I,” I steeled myself. “I like you. Like, you know, like like you.” She was now standing in front of me at the porch, a surprised expression on her face. Her eyes glittered underneath the yellow light bulb above us. Did I say she was beautiful? She was. A lot.

She didn’t seem impressed though, and my heart sank.

She then smiled, then it dissipated as she became serious. She took a step forward, and so did I.

“I like you too.” She whispered, and my heart came out of the depths of the Mariana Trench and began flying to Cloud Six.

“Thank God,” I gasped out. “Or else that would’ve been weird.”

“It would have,” she agreed. We were standing face to face now.

“Annabeth, I—” She closed the gap, and when her lips touched mine, I felt the world around us spin, and my brain melt through my ears. Her soft lips reminded me of the food we all had just ate, and her scent was intoxicating, her lips were intoxicating. Everything about her was _intoxicating_. I felt my heart thump madly in my chest as my knees wobbled. I felt her throw her arms around my neck as I softly held her waist. In that moment, which was no more than 10 seconds but felt like an eternity, life was perfect. The world around us had disappeared, and only me and her was the only thing that _mattered._

“Uh,” someone coughed. “Um, I…”

Annabeth and I jolted away from each other, the second interruption in one day giving us another near heart attack moment. I was sure I was going to have heart failure in my sleep tonight. Annabeth was blushing furiously.

Malcolm was the culprit this time, and he was blushing furiously just like his sister. He had walked into a scene _he wished he did not_ , and I was just as red as both of them. He held his new board game, _Diplomacy,_ and the rest of the gifts in a bag Mom had given him, which also had some of Annabeth’s new gifts.

“Uh,” I said dumbly, not sure what to say to him.

“It’s um, okay. I-I’ll come back when you’re ready to leave.” 

“We are,” she said, then she glared at him.

“Don’t you dare say a word to anyone. Or Piper will be screaming her head off for days to come.” Malcolm raised up his hands in surrender, and nodded.

“Right,” I said. “Time to leave.” She nodded, although her expression was the same I had.

_I wish you could stay._

“Watch out for yourself, and for him, on the street, Wise Girl. Don’t want a car running over a beautiful girl like you, would kind of ruin things.” I smiled. She rolled her eyes.

“I will, Seaweed Brain. Thank you for everything.” We smiled and she kissed me on the cheek, Malcolm was around and any more PDA would be just unacceptable. 

“Goodbye.” I said.

“Goodbye.” They both said in unison, and they stepped down the porch, and Annabeth after a few steps turned around and waved at me, blowing me a kiss as she grinned, then turned around again and strolled down the street with her brother.

I stood there grinning like a madman for a while before Mom called me back in home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the Second Chapter.  
> A bit longer from what I envisioned, but it worked out quite nicely in the end. The next chapter is the final chapter of part one, and then we delve into Bootcamp. Also, I had to adjust the First Chapter a bit so that it would make a bit more sense, the “apartment” is now a house.
> 
> As for Percy and Annabeth’s relationship, it may be going a bit fast, but that is necessary given the upcoming chapters.
> 
> Drop a review, and let me know what you think.
> 
> Have a great day! :)
> 
> Published:3/4/2021


End file.
